Wringer.



UNITED STATES- ALEXANDER H. STRIOKLER, OF MOUNT PLEASANT, PENNSYLVANIA.

WRINGER.

SPECIFICATION forming* parof Letters Patent N0. 663.668, dated December 11, 19100.

i Application filed July 29, 1897. Serial No. 646,299. (No model.)

To all whom it mar/- concern,.-

Be it known that I, ALEXANDER H. STRICK- LER, a citizen of the United States of America, residing at Mount Pleasant, in the county of Westmoreland and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and uset'ul Improvements in Wringers, ot which the following is a specification, reference being had therein to the accompanying drawings.

My invention relates to certain new and useful improvements in wringers, and has for its object to produce a device of this class that will efliciently and quickly remove water from the interior and exterior of reor similar hose and at the same time will be simple in consti-notion and comparatively inexpensive.

ln the drawings which form a part of this speciiication, Figure 1 is a side elevation of my improved wringer. Fig. 2 is an end view of the same. Fig. 3 is a detail view in crosssection on the line X X of Fig. 1. Fig. 4 is a detail sectional view of the gear-wheel and screw-threaded rod.

Similar reference-numerals designate similar parts in the several figures of the draw ings.

The numeral 1 designates two standards, each of which is composed of a pair of parallel bars spaced apart to form vertical slots or One end of the shaft 4 of the lower roller extends beyond the shaft 3 and has' secured thereto the crank-arm 7, which carries a handle 8 of any known construction.

Connecting the standards 1 at their upper ends is the cross bar or brace 9, the whole forming a frame. The ends of the brace 9, as shown in Fig. 2, are secured between the parallel bars of the standards and space said bars the proper distance apart. The brace 9 is provided on each side of its center portion with downwardly-projecting lugs 10, and these lugs are connected at their extremities by a plate 11, the whole forming a boxing which carries the beveled gear-wheel l2, that rests upon the plate 11. The gear-Wheel 12 tween the wringer-rolls.

has a central screwthreaded opening and meshes with a vertically-disposed gear-wheel 13, which is suitably mounted upon the brace 9 and is provided with an operating-handle 14.

The shaft 4 of the lower roller is suitably journaled in the standards 1. The shaft 3 of the upper roller is journaled in bearing-blocks 15, which are slidingly mounted in the longitudinal slots or guides formed by the parallel bars of the standards. The upper portions of these bearing-blocks 15 are provided with elongated openings 16 for the reception of the ends of the bowed spring 17, which are loosely inserted. The bowed spring 17 is provided at its central portion with a block carrying a rigidly-mounted screw-threaded rod 18. This screw-th readed rod engages the internally-screw-threaded opening in the beveled gear-wheel 12.

Secured to the standards 1 are guards 19, which prevent the hose from running off the ends ofthe rollers and catching between them and the standards, thereby obviating any liability to injury.

It is to be borne in mind that the machine of Vmy invention is especially constructed for the purpose of expressing water from a tirehose, which, as is well known, is provided at each end with a metallic rigid coupling that must pass with the hose through the space be- I have therefore found it necessary to provide a novel construction of frame which is elongated in a vertical direction for adistance sufficient to permit the upper roll 2 to be raised a distance greater than the diameter of the metallic hose-conpling or the hose itself, and such adjustment of the Lipper roller necessitates the movement of the rollerbearings with the spring 17,. In my machine the slidable bearings for the upper roll are necessarily connected with the transverse spring which spans the space between said bearings, andforsimplicity in construction and economy in the manufacture of the structure a single spring is employed, which serves to give the necessary yielding pressure to the upper roll and also provides the means by which the roll and its bearings may be adjusted the required distance. The adjusting screw-spindle 18 is connected centrally to the curved or bowed portion of the single transverse spring, and

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when the roll is lowered into cooperative relation to the lower non-slidingroll this screwspindle is moved in a downward direction, so as to make the spring exert the required tension on the bearings 15 for the upper roll to coperate with the lower roll. I have found that it is not desirable to rigidly attach the end portions of `the transverse spring to the bearings of the upper adjustable roll, because the spring does not have a free action when exerting requisite pressure when its end portions are attached firmly to the bearings. To

overcome this objection, as well as to prevent,

buckling of the spring under the pressure of the screw-spindle, I have provided the bearings with transverse openings and have fitted the end portions of the springs slidably in said openings, whereby the pressure of the screw-spindle upon the spring causes the end portions of the latter to slide through the openings in the bearings and permits the bowed portion of the spring to be deected more or less, according to the pressure of the screw-spindle.

In operating the device when the gearwheel 13 is turned in one direction the gearwheel l2 is operated to raise the screw-threaded rod 18, thereby raising the upper roller away from the lower, the ends of the spring 17 having a positive engagement with the bearing-blocks 15. The hose is then inserted and the upper roller screwed down upon it, when by operating the crank-arm 7-the hose is drawn through and the water thoroughly and quickly removed. The spring 17 permits the upper roller a limitedV movement away from the other roller to allow for any unevenness or inequalities in the hose.

It will thus be seen that Ihave constructed E an efficient, durable, and comparatively ini expensive device that will thoroughly and quickly do the work for which it is intended. It will be observed that the machine which I have invented for expressing water from l fire-hose provides means 'for raising the upper adjustable roll for a distance greater than the diameter of the metallic coupling which is usually provided on the hose, such adj usting means consisting, essentially, of the i threaded stem 18, the gear-nut 12, and th'e shaft having the handle 14, which is provided with a gear having intermeshing engagement with the gear-nut 12. This roll-adj usting mechanism serves a twofold purpose in my machine: First, the parts are arranged to provide for the necessary elevation of the adjusting-roll when it is desired to pass a metallic coupling on a fire-hose between the coacting rolls, and, secondly, such mechanism exerts the necessary pressure on the transverse curved spring 17, so as to hold the upper adj ustable roll in coactive relation to the lower roll, which is mounted in stationary bearings.

ceases upper cross-bar of the machine-frame in a position to have threaded engagement with the screw-spindle and to turn or rotate freely on the frame. The shaft having the handle 14 is also supported on the frame in a position for its gear 13 to mesh with thegear-nut, and

these parts are entirely out of the way of the roll-operating crank 7, and, besides, theyare disposed so as to quickly raise or lower the spindle, together with the parts connected therewith, without an undue amount of friction between the frame and the screw-lifting gear-nut.

It is to be borne in mind that my machine has its several elements combined and organized for service especially on a class of work which an ordinarywringer cannot be used onto anyappreciable extent, and I therefore attac-l1 special importance to the fact that the frame is elongated in a vertical direction for a sufficient distance to insure the necessary elevation of the upper pressure-roll to a point which permits of the metallic hosecoupling passing between the rolls, also to the fact that the spring 17 is connected slidably and positively with the bearings for this adjustable roll, and to the construction of the roll-adjusting and pressure-applying mechanism adapted to quickly operate the upper roll and its spring and with a minimum amount of friction on the working parts.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

A machine for expressing water from firehose comprising a vertically-elongated frame havinga bearing at its top and guideways at its sides, a roll journaled in stationary bearings, a crank for rotating the roll, a pair of slidable bearings movable in said guideways, an adjustable roll journaled in said bearings, a spring slidably connected at its end portions to the bearings and free to be defiected at its middle portion without distortion, a threaded stem secured firmly to the middle portion of the spring, a gear-nut idly mounted in the top bearing of the frame and having threaded engagement with the spindle, and a shaft journaled at the top of the frame and geared to the gear-nut, whereby the upper roll may be raised within the elongated frame a distance exceeding the diameter of the metallic coupling -on lire-hose, as set forth.

In testimony whereof I ax my signature in presence of two witnesses.

ALEXANDER H. STRICKLER.

Witnesses:

JOHN NOLAND, Tnos. M. BOYD, Jr.

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